I really don't get all the upset over this album. Surely we all agree that with Ryko out of the picture, Gail had to find a way to get FZ's catalogue back on the market - hence UME. One of her beefs with Ryko was their gratuitous releasing of all those compilations of FZ's music that weren't put together by FZ himself. She's hardly going to rerelease Strictly Commercial or those Cheap Thrills items via UME. Mothermania is back for an early Mothers compilation, so, it seems a later compilation put together by Frank himself is not an inappropriate candidate. It's that simple.

You MUST get upset. NOW!

_________________One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.

It's like this, Pol...If you are a real, actual, full-blooded, dyed-in-the-wool, legitimate Zappa fan, then you have to buy all his albums, plus all related releases, no matter how tenuous the connection may be. This means, if The Gail Gang release a sampler/compilation/collection...anything with previously released material, you MUST buy it. There is no choice for you. A faux fan, or poser Zappanatic, can pass on rehashed tunery, but not a loyal listener who "gets it" and can spot an eyebrow at 100 feet. Just ask anytrendmonger.So, by releasing Understanding America, they are forcing those with a finely-honed musical understanding to spend their hard-earned money to buy something they don't really need to have.And, this blatant manipulation of our dedicated mental obeisance pisses us off!

_________________You're probably wondering why I'm here(not that it makes a heck of a lot of a difference to ya)

It's like this, Pol...If you are a real, actual, full-blooded, dyed-in-the-wool, legitimate Zappa fan, then you have to buy all his albums, plus all related releases, no matter how tenuous the connection may be. This means, if The Gail Gang release a sampler/compilation/collection...anything with previously released material, you MUST buy it. There is no choice for you. A faux fan, or poser Zappanatic, can pass on rehashed tunery, but not a loyal listener who "gets it" and can spot an eyebrow at 100 feet. Just ask anytrendmonger.So, by releasing Understanding America, they are forcing those with a finely-honed musical understanding to spend their hard-earned money to buy something they don't really need to have.And, this blatant manipulation of our dedicated mental obeisance pisses us off!

...and the reason it pisses us off is that we will do it over and over again.

I own 131 Frank Zappa albums when I do not own even 30 of any other artist. Yet, I do not own any copies of FZ Plays The Music Of FZ, FZ:OZ, Halloween, Joe's Corsage, Joe' Domage, Joe's XMASage, Joe's Menage, Quaudiophiliac, the 4 CD MOFO, Cheap Thrills, Son Of Cheep Thrills, Strictly Genteel, or Old Masters Box One or Three.

Anyone who thinks that makes me a faux fan or poser Zappanatic is fucked in the head.

Anyone who thinks [I'm] a faux fan or poser Zappanatic is fucked in the head.

I'm pretty sure that was Doug being very sarcastic ... I'm also pretty sure he wasn't aiming that at you ...

My point is about the official catalogue. Ryko fizzled. An alternative had to be found. It's pretty obvious that with a new firm there would be a new set up and they wouldn't just rehash the old arrangement. Gail's between a rock and a hard place.

_________________The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Anyone who thinks [I'm] a faux fan or poser Zappanatic is fucked in the head.

I'm pretty sure that was Doug being very sarcastic ... I'm also pretty sure he wasn't aiming that at you ...

My point is about the official catalogue. Ryko fizzled. An alternative had to be found. It's pretty obvious that with a new firm there would be a new set up and they wouldn't just rehash the old arrangement. Gail's between a rock and a hard place.

Well, I was being pretty sarcastic my damn self.

I agree with you mostly. Understanding America is a one off. No need to get so exercised about it. Given the recent output, it's hardly worth complaining about.

I'm sure you noticed as well as me all the bitching about FZ's catalogue disappearing from the shelves over the last few years. Now it's coming back ... guess what ... more bitching.

As far as I'm concerned it's not about existing fans, surely if we give a shit we've got this sussed out by now. It's mostly about having Zappa's catalogue back on the shelves to be discovered by new fans. I personally was happy the catalogue was coming back and that was it for me. I wasn't planning to buy any (who was I kidding?). The fact that Chunga's Revenge has turned out to be remastered from the original vinyl mix is a dream come true for me - I'm loving it. And, I'm a fan of the vocal Sleep Dirt, but, none the less, the vinyl remaster is fantastic as that is how I listened to it for 12 years before discovering the CD.

A valid complaint I believe is directed at Music Today. We should all unite behind a genuine complaint about a real physical problem. They charge ridiculous amounts for international postage, using outdated methods. I've paid double the value for Road Tapes #1, it dispatched on Nov 6th and still hasn't got here an entire month later. That's a real problem which can be easily contrasted with almost every other online seller.

_________________The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

A valid complaint I believe is directed at Music Today. We should all unite behind a genuine complaint about a real physical problem. They charge ridiculous amounts for international postage, using outdated methods. I've paid double the value for Road Tapes #1, it dispatched on Nov 6th and still hasn't got here an entire month later. That's a real problem which can be easily contrasted with almost every other online seller.

Definitely with you on that; it's pretty incredible 2bh, as you illustrate.

I own 131 Frank Zappa albums when I do not own even 30 of any other artist. Yet, I do not own any copies of FZ Plays The Music Of FZ, FZ:OZ, Halloween, Joe's Corsage, Joe' Domage, Joe's XMASage, Joe's Menage, Quaudiophiliac, the 4 CD MOFO, Cheap Thrills, Son Of Cheep Thrills, Strictly Genteel, or Old Masters Box One or Three.

Anyone who thinks that makes me a faux fan or poser Zappanatic is fucked in the head.

bow tie daddyit can't happen herebrown shoes don't make itwhat's the ugliest part of your body?who are the brain police?sex outside now

porn wars pretty much defined the mothers of prevention album when it came out, to get a double-wide version of porn wars buried in a 2-cd sampler put together by zappa isn't a must have right away, but it's a must have nonetheless, and could re-define m.o.p.

a sampler has it's place on the shelf, cheep thrills were good for a quick fix if you didn't know what to play, itoons makes a 'sampler' obsolete; 3 people asked me to send them a 10 to 12 track sampler list which they proceeded to purchase for their i-apps ... a young guitarist totally intimidated by 800+ tracks available almost overnite; a pop fan who never heard of fz; & a gangsta looking for zappa's skankiest numbers

the guitarist may circle back for a closer look, the other 2 unlikely, but now they have a dozen or so tracks to think about

One reason to buy Understanding America CD from Amazon: in the USA, Amazon loads most UA tracks to your Amazon Cloud Player for free. No Porn War Deluxe or Finer Moments yet, but more of my Amazon CD purchases show up everyday.

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